Laminate Choices

At home, your style should be looked upon, and walked upon.

It’s personal and individual and wonderful. It’s your sense of
what’s “right” design wise, your uncanny ability to know what
looks good and works well in your home. It’s your style
and you call upon it to make hundreds of decisions.

It goes without saying that you should use that unique sense when
choosing something as critical as laminate flooring. Critical?
Yes! Because any floor covering in your home impacts interior
beauty, design, comfort, livability and upkeep. It’s a fact,
floor coverings can make or break a home.

Knowing the basic types of laminate and laminate installation can
provide you with a firm foundation upon which to begin your
laminate shopping journey.

This section explains laminate flooring types, and
offers you the information you need to make smart choices for you
and your home.

Fake looking laminates are history.

If laminates looked fake the last time you checked, it’s time to
check again!

Today’s laminates are looking better and better, and often need
close examination to be identified.

Laminates have truly come a long way. Why?

Because of the growing popularity of laminates, manufacturers are
creating an increasing array of traditional, rustic, and exotic
wood grain designs.

In fact, presses have improved to the point where the texture
imprinted on top of the design looks more real than ever, even
with distressed wood or natural stone designs.

Here’s the latest in laminates.

As with sheet vinyl floors, some of the new laminates really have
the look of natural materials, particularly the textured products
that give the floor dimension.

The most common, basic laminate designs have a wood grain
appearance. Some of the most popular laminates have rustic or
historic wood grain patterns.

Quality is a snap with multiple photographs.

The quality of the laminate partially has to do with the
photography and the number of photographs per style, which is
known as "screens".

Here’s an example for you. When manufacturers emulate a natural
stone tile, they try to recreate the variation in color, pattern
and texture that is a result of cutting a natural product.

The more screens a product has, the more variation it can offer.
And the more “authentic” the laminate looks.

Color can make all the difference.

Like any floor, select the laminate color to compliment the size
and décor of your room and the activities taking place.

Remember that lighter colors will make a smaller room appear
larger, while darker colors will absorb the light and create a
more intimate setting.

Choose a color that either coordinates or contrasts with your
cabinets and other furniture.

Avoid matching everything to the same color and style. Let your
creativity guide you! And remember, contrasts can make your room
more interesting.

Laminate flooring types – yours will be installed in one of these
4 forms.

Glueless laminate flooring.

No mess, glueless installation makes these floors quick and
easy-to-install. Glueless laminate flooring is the largest
segment of all laminate flooring installation today.

They come in a variety of ceramic and wood designs and
colorations, as well as some manufacturers offer a real, hardwood
veneer instead of a printed layer. It looks amazingly
hardwood-like.

These floors come in both planks and tiles. A thin, plastic
underlayment is needed to seal out moisture from below.
(Remember, moisture is the enemy of your flooring.)

Top off your laminate flooring with moldings.

Moldings are important because they cover the space that is
allowed for the flooring to expand and move naturally on top of
the subfloor, and they help with the transition to an adjacent
floor.

Most manufacturers offer coordinating moldings for all styles and
colors for any laminate flooring you choose. Please note that
these moldings are designed to coordinate with your floor and not
designed to be an exact match.

Also, be aware that moldings for laminates are slightly larger
than their wood or ceramic tile counterparts.

Here, to familiarize you with various standard moldings, are some
styles and definitions.

The Step Down Stairnose is a coordinating piece
providing the proper transition for all the steps in your home.

A Reducer Strip is the transitional piece our installers
use to connect the laminate with another type of floor covering
such as vinyl, thin ceramic tile, or low-pile carpeting.

An End Molding or Carpet Reducer is used as a
transition from laminate floors to different flooring surfaces
when the reducer does not allow enough height, such as on
high-pile carpet or thick ceramic tile.

T-Molding is commonly used in doorways to join two
laminate floors inadjoining rooms. It's also recommended when
making transitions from a laminate floor to another floor that is
approximately the same height.

Finally, a Quarter Round may be installed wherever the
laminate floor meets the wall or baseboard.

We recommend that you work closely with us to become familiar
with the moldings and transition pieces.

Ask to see samples if possible, so there are no surprises come
installation time.

Those are the basics regarding laminate flooring types.

We hope this helps sharpen your focus on a laminate style to
match the pattern of life in your home.

Creating Your Space. All Rights Reserved.
All content and images are the property of Creating Your Space and may not be reproduced or used in any way without the written consent of the owner. Privacy Policy